Page 43 of Beautiful Deception

Inessa

Natasha is back again. I try to avoid her as I clean the house but she finds a way to run into me when I’m cleaning the fine china Viktor has in a cabinet near the kitchen. Mrs. Green told me that it was imported from Italy centuries ago and to handle it with very fine care.

It must have cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. More money than I’ve ever seen in my entire life and now here I am, cleaning expensive china.

“Inessa,” Natasha says in a cheerful tone as she approaches me. I grip the plate harder in my hand. Mrs. Green told me these plates and cups were to only be used during special occasions so they don’t leave the cabinet much. That’s why they need to be cleaned at least once a week to keep them from getting dusty.

“Hello,” I say warily. I continue to wipe down the plate.

“Beautiful,” she murmurs, running her fingers over it. And of course, leaving behind finger stains.

I gently move the plate away from her. “I’m cleaning this so…”

“So, I shouldn’t touch it? Is that what you’re saying?”

“I am cleaning it. I don’t know what more to say.” I place the plate back into the cabinet and grab another one to clean.

“I’m not sure I like your attitude towards me. When I’m the woman of this house, I’ll use whatever plates I want. And I love this fine china. I’ll use it all the time.”

“You don’t want it to go bad. It’s very old.”

“I guess. But it’s so beautiful. And I won’t have my maid telling me when I can use it.”

“I’m not your maid,” I say matter of fact.

“Yet. You’re not my maid yet. And when I marry Viktor, you won’t be my maid at all.”

I almost drop the plate. Get a grip, I tell myself. “Well, I am Viktor’s current maid, so I really need to finish cleaning this.”

“Understood.”

She grabs one of the plates from the cabinet and studies it.

“Can you put that back? I just cleaned it. I’ll have to clean it again now.”

“Oh. How silly of me.” She starts to put it back when… she opens her fingers and lets the plate fall right to the floor. It smashes into pieces.

I jump back with a gasp.

“Whoops. How clumsy of me.” And then, while keeping her eyes glued to mine, she grabs another plate and deliberately drops it to the floor. This time, a piece of glass hits me in the shin, drawing blood.

I stumble back. “Can you stop? Please?”

“What is going on here?” Viktor demands, storming over to us. He stops when he sees the glass on the floor. “What happened?” He whirls around on me. “Those plates cost three hundred thousand dollars. I told you to be careful with them.”

“She’s clumsy,” Natasha says. “It just slipped right from her hand. You know, I think she might have deliberately dropped the plates. I saw it with my own eyes.”

Viktor frowns. “Why would Inessa do that?” He looks at me. “Did you do that?”

I can’t speak. Natasha keeps accusing me of things and I don’t have the power to stand up for myself.

It’s then that I really feel the pain in my leg. With a wince, I bend down to check on it and see the blood seeping from my wound. It’s a lot worse than I thought it would be.

“Inessa?” Viktor asks in a softer voice. “You’re bleeding.”

Natasha rolls her eyes behind Viktor’s back. “She’s fine. Just slap a bandage on her.”

The sight of the blood makes me woozy. Feeling outnumbered between Viktor and Natasha, I can’t stay upright anymore.

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